During the tournament, Adidas created 3,000 images and 300 videos to ensure that it was ready for every eventual outcome, according to global brand director Thomas Van Schaik.
But according to Van Schaik, there were "many of which we didn’t use. There’s one video we made for if Messi won the World Cup that no one will ever see".
Of course it was a memorable moment but since we are a sponsor, we weren’t proud of it. It was not a moment for us to react to
The strategy that Adidas took for the World Cup is described by Van Schaik as "setting yourself up to react quickly", which represented itself physically as a content and ads war room.
He said not only did he have all the media partners and agencies in the room but also made sure the brands had lawyers, meaning any question could be answered in the shortest time possible.
Not all incidents were reacted to, however. When Adidas-sponsored Luis Suarez bit the ear of another player, Van Schaik said the brand steered away from reacting, despite brands like Snickers creating content around it.
He said: "Of course it was a memorable moment but since we are a sponsor, we weren’t proud of it. It was not a moment for us to react to."
He also discussed the decision from Adidas to kill off some of the communities it had built during the World Cup because the value for people wore off as the competition ended.
He said: "Brazuca, we killed it. It was the global ball for the World Cup that tweeted jokes but we can’t turn it into a ball for Champions League or Women’s Football, we’d alienate [the community]."
The #WorldCup was pretty good, right? Here are some of my favourite bits. Thanks for all the love. #ballin https://t.co/WZz5uz9pFp
